


The Dark

by Name1



Series: Moving Forward [3]
Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cara's gorgeous breasts-TM, F/M, I'm Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:48:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22707226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Name1/pseuds/Name1
Summary: “I want you to know I killed her,” came the deep voice from the speaker.Silence.This was Cara’s comm-signature, linked only to her vambrace, hailing him on her private signal.“Your partner. The pretty one, with the dark hair”. Din could almost hear the mocking tone in his voice.
Relationships: Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Cara Dune & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Cara Dune & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Cara Dune/The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Series: Moving Forward [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1648918
Comments: 24
Kudos: 147





	The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize for whatever this is. I had a totally different story planned but this is what came out.  
> thanks for reading.  
> Sorry about grammar and spelling issues. I try my best :)  
> This is the third part of what I guess has become a series. It's gotten away from me.

“I want you to know I killed her,” came the deep voice from the speaker.

_Silence._

This was Cara’s comm-signature, linked only to her vambrace, hailing him on her private signal.

“Your partner. The pretty one, with the dark hair”. Din could almost hear the mocking tone in his voice.

Din couldn’t breathe, couldn't respond. This had to be a joke. Or a bad dream. He had those from time to time.

_Silence_

“But I’m not a monster, it was a clean shot right between her eyes. She didn’t even look away or beg or her life. I was impressed, until she spit in my face that is”.

_Silence_

"You have one hour to show up at the warehouse with the child before I let my men do what they want with her corpse. You bring me what I ask for and I’ll trade you for what’s left of her".

Silence

The line went dead.

Dead

_Dead_

_Dead….._

Their luck had finally run out.

 _Not like this. It couldn’t be like this. Not when things had finally just_ started. _This couldn’t be happening._

He saw red and his higher brain function had left the equation. His heart was screaming at him to do _something_. Darkness started to creep into his vision.

90 minutes ago…..

Their armor check consisted of a quick firm tug on the sides of the plates, followed by closed-fisted thump, diligently checking each other for weak spots or defective gear. Making sure it was secure and latched properly was important. It was practical and wonderfully intimate as it involved inspecting every inch of each other, from their boots to their necks. They would stand face to face, a perfect mirror image as they meticulously inspected each other. Sometimes there were jokes to lighten the mood when he would tug on her chest plate, other times it was just a wonderful warm silence that filled the space between them. It had become a tradition that meant something to both of them.

Today would be like any other day they came across an imperial outpost.

Mission: Split up to gather intel. Try to find any information about the kid's value to the Imperial remnant (by any means necessary) and then meet back at the ship. Cara was going to walk the perimeter of an old seemingly abandoned warehouse and Din was taking an underground bunker. The did this all the time. No big deal.

They had a system they had developed over many jobs; a quick check-in every 15 mintues. Just a quick ‘all good’ before signing off again. If it went straight to shit, they were only pinned down a maximum of 15 minutes before they knew backup was on the way. Only after the second 15 minute check came and went without a signal, did he start to feel the hairs rise up on his arms.

He almost called her, but he could anticipate her making fun of him for worrying about her unnecessarily. He trusted her and her ability, didn’t want to undermine her of infer she wasn’t capable of fending for herself. When the 1-hour mark came and went, his chest was tight, something was wrong. Where was she….?

The signal coming from her call signature was a huge relief until the heard the man’s voice. The awful words and what those words meant.

_He lost a chunk of time._

The next thing he remembers he’s strapping a repeating blaster to his shoulder and lowering the ramp.

He heard the kid let out a questioning sound. He sounded scared. If Din was capable of feeling any emotion right now, he would have stopped to comfort him.

“I don’t want you to see this”. The kid just looked at him clutching her right boot, his favorite treasure he kept in his toy box. They still couldn’t figure out why he loved it so much, and only the right one. He had no great love for the left. Go figure…

“If you have ever listened to me before, please do it now. I can’t lose you too”. The kid took a step toward him and he said desperately “if you won’t stay here for me, then do it for her”.

“I won’t leave her here with them. I’ll bring her back. I promise”.

The kid sat down.

_It was too much. He had to go. He couldn’t look at the worried look on the kid’s face any longer._

He walked toward the compound in a trance. The hate, the rage, the uncontrollable fury he felt was everything he didn’t want the kid to know existed inside him. What he planned on doing was something the kid could never know about.

He prided himself on being honorable in battle, clean kills and mercy, but he was going to enjoy killing every one of them. He would show them pain and hurt and no quarter, just as they had shown her none. He would make sure they felt every ounce of the pain he was feeling and then some.

He programmed the empty metal pram to follow his path, to hover alongside him.

He walks right up to the front door, not even a pretense of stealth. What he plans, he wants them to see coming. He wants them to know what’s going to happen. He wants to see their faces when they realize it.

“Mando, I see you cam-------” he never even finished the word. Din gunned him down where he stood and the guards to either side of him. They may not have been prepared for a fight, but he certainly was. _Cara always loved a good blaster fight. This was for her._

He ravaged their headquarters, the flamethrower lighting rooms on fire and blaster mowing down anyone he came across. _Where would they have kept her body?_

He was almost at the back of the building when he saw a row of open doors. He lit each one up in a wall of flames until he came to a bend in the hallway.

The next door was closed, so he kicked It down, ready to rain fire down upon anyone who was unlucky enough to be alive, while Cara wasn’t.

He stopped in his tracks

She was standing there, knees bent in what was her usual fighting stance, right foot slightly behind the other. Her fists were bloody, and the metal restraining cuffs she wore hung heavy from one wrist, the other one broken free.

He couldn’t even breathe as he looked at her. Blood trailed all the way down her face from her busted eyebrow to her chin. Her lip was split on both the top and the bottom. 

She looked up at him in exasperation, clearly annoyed.

“Come on Din, I had it under control. I don’t need you to go all ‘bust down the door rescue’ on me. I checked in every 15 minutes like we agreed”. It’s only then he sees her standing over 8 imperial guards, their bodies lying on the ground at odd angles, all not moving. She’s breathing heavy but other than that seems perfectly ok, keyed up and giddy from the fight even.

“How did you even know I was here?” she asks. She was outside when they jumped her and tried to get binders on her. One side connected on her wrist, but she fought them back and managed to push them back inside the building, where she could guard the only exit to keep them from escaping. _Their mistake._

He can’t even form words. This must be a dream, a hallucination his subconscious dreamed up to allow him to see her one more time. A chance to say everything he never had the courage to…. This was cruel….

But she looked so real, standing there with her hands on her hips now, waiting for him to say something.

“I don’t come and crash your parties unless you request an assist so what gives”? Her hands were now away from her body, palms up in question. She waited for him to answer.

_He can’t believe it. But, how he wants to…._

“C-cara”? His voice break as he says it out loud. His voice hasn’t cracked since he was 14.

“Uh Yeeeaaah….?”, she says suspiciously, not quite wondering where he is going with this. He’s acting odd.

“That _is_ my name. Oh hell, did you hit your head? Do you need to sit down?”, she comes closer fussing over him.

“You’re alive,” he said it total wonder and astonishment.

He opened his mouth to say something else but all he managed was a strange wet choked sound.

Before his mind even registered the movement, he was all over her. His arms wrapped around her so tight, he would probably leave bruises.

“Din, What’s wrong? What happened? Is it the kid?” she asks in a panic.

_He loses time again._

He has no memory of walking back with her to the Crest, no memory of how awkward their gait is because he won’t let go of her. He doesn’t remember entering the ramp sequence or disengaging ground security.

He’s sitting in a chair, his head in his hands, a grip on either side of his helmet. He’s leaning so far forward his head is almost between his knees. Cara is standing behind him with one hand on his back, anchoring him. Like always.

She still doesn’t know what the hell happened, but he’s shaken up so she patiently waits for him to calm down so they can talk.

“Din, what happened back there? Talk to me.”

He paused while he tried to think of some way to convey what had happened after they split up.

Nothing came out.

All he could manage was a small, “You were dead. He said he killed you. He had your comm.” All he could manage were simple sentences.

“I have absolutely no clue how he patched in, but that’s all it was. I checked in. He must have intercepted it somehow. He was luring you into a trap, that’s all. Everyone’s fine”.

She starts rubbing her hands soothingly over his back, but he probably can’t fee it under the think beskar plate. She reaches to unbuckle it, and when he doesn’t offer any resistance, she removes both the from and back pieces together. She returns to trying to comfort him the only way she knows how. Words won’t help, not here, not in this instance. Din can barely string them together at this point, and she’s getting choked up herself at how sad and despondent he’s become.

She starts rubbing his back to assure him she’s real, she’s still here. She starts light, just skimming the surface of his worn shirt, then working her hands more deeply into his muscles…

She can feel the stress, smell it in the air. Little by little she works out the knots in his shoulders and neck. She takes each of his hands in her and rubs his palms, focusing on the thick muscle of his thumb.

She feels his slump as he finally relaxes. His breathing is even.

She walks around to stand in from of him and says, “Hey, stand up”.

_He doesn’t move_

“I know you know what that means in Basic. I can’t say it your way”.

_He still doesn’t move_

“Come on, stand up, would you? _Please_?” She feels like it’s a low blow adding _that word_ at the end. He’s never denied her anything when she uses that word.

When he stands, she wraps her arms around him and presses her face against his neck, up under his chin, just like she knows he loves. His arms wrap around her and she feels his shudder shake through her whole body. His neck felt wet for some reason.

“Thank you, Cara.”

_Thank you for everything. For being here._

Only moments ago, he felt nothing but darkness, but she chased it all away with her embrace and filled it with her. 

It was finally night, today was almost over.

Today sucked. He wanted to forget it ever happened.

The experience with the imperial remnant was a terror he was sure he would re-live over and over again in his nightmares. He finally calmed down enough to realize that while things were in fact _not_ fine, the 3 of them were alive and that’s more than he could have hoped for, more than he thought only hours ago. He had a lot to be thankful for and would not look a gift horse in the mouth.

10 hours later after they left the planet’s surface they were sitting down at the common table and taking turns feeding the kid. The little green nugget loved the attention and it was a way for them both to relax and let the stress of this awful day fade away. There was nothing like a smile on the kid's face to lift their spirits, often against their will. He even raised his little ears up when Cara put aside the jar of applesauce and pulled out some sort of sugary cookie sticks. They both laughed at the look for pure adoration on his face.

_It was good to hear Din laughing again._

As she opened the package to remove a cookie, the main cabin electricity went out. The emergency running lights kicked on around the edges of the floor but provided no ambient light to see by. Din used the light on his helmet to find his way to the ladder. Opening the fuse box, he determined everything looked in order. It had been a long time since this happened. Last time it righted itself with hours, so he’d just wait it out. They could live without light (less without heat but it would only be a few hours). If the situation didn’t fix itself by morning, he would take them to the nearest port for diagnostics. The engine and life support systems were completely fine, so he wasn’t worried. It was probably just the ballast box, it got overheated from time to time and once it cooled down, the lights would flicker back on. Just to be safe he went around and flicked the switches to the off position so they wouldn’t all turn back on at the same time and scare the kid. They were all jumpy tonight as it was.

The kid was squirming and grumbling for his cookie, but without the light, the best she could do was get it near his mouth and hope for the best. He accidentally nommed on her finger when she didn’t pull it away fast enough. “Hey, hey, be polite. I was going to give you the whole thing, don’t be greedy. Where are your manners?”

“Are you seriously asking that little privacy gremlin about his manners?” Din’s voice carried to her as he was climbing up the ladder.

“Yes, I was. His cuteness is only going to get him so far you know…..”.

“He has you eating out of the palm of his hand, just admit it.”

“Only if you do first….”

Their banter was slowly returning and things seemed much more even keeled, so she let herself relax some.

“It’s going to get cold tonight, this far from the nearest sun. Hopefully, the power will kick back on in a few hours. It would be a good idea if we all bunked down together in my bed and pooled all the blankets. We can keep all the heat in that small space that way.”

“You coming on to me Din Djarin?”, she asked, with a sparkling grin all shades of seductive. _She couldn’t help herself. He made it too easy. They almost made a game of it now, but he was getting good._

“Would you get in my bed with me if I said yes?” He came back at her without hesitation.

Leaning up against him, in his personal space she said, “I’d _only_ get in your bed if you said yes”.

“Then, Yes”.

“You are on fire with the comebacks today. I’m proud of you.” She patted him on the chest and they both laughed. _This was what he needed._

“Thanks, I think” Dine answered with a laughing tone still in his voice.

“Let’s grab a chemlight just in case and put it by the ladder in case of an emergency. We don’t want anyone falling down there”.

He cracked one, watching the light fill up the darkness. He caught her eyes, still standing close beside him.

_Well shit._

Only she could look this beautiful in the harsh artificial glow of the chemlight. Where it made other people look angular and menacing, It highlighted her cheeks, her lips, and the curve of her neck.

“Let’s go to bed then,” she says as full of innuendo as she can manage with her stomach in knots. Then as she reaches down to entangle her fingers with him, “so where do you want me?”

He leads her to his bed, and she sits down on the edge. It’s so dark this far back away from the only lightsource that she can’t see anything.

“I’ll be right back,” he states and he’s out the door.

She hears his return and the coo from about chest level, lets her know he brought Bean too. She’s glad, he might get scared and with those big ears that dissipate heat, he needs to be kept warm.

He grabs the kid’s floating bed and brings it into his bunk with them and then grabs a pile of extra blankets and put them on the bed beside her. He fluffs a few of the warmest ones into the kid’s bed and places him down with his soft snuggle toy for sleep.

He turns to Cara, and she stands so they’re on even ground. He unfolded the blankets and laid them all out flat on top of the single blanket he usually uses. He turns to her then. She couldn’t see it but could feel him shift.

Standing there, face to face in the dark, she’s suddenly nervous, which is _ridiculous_.

He reaches down and takes both of her hands in his. Slowly he raises them up to the sides of his helmet.

“Can I take this off, are you sure?”, Cara asks. This is part of their script they follow every time. _She knows this. This feels familiar, though it’s just as exciting as the first time, every time._

“Can you see me?” he asks, like he always does. This has become so routine. She doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to the trust he has in her.

_Always_ , she wants to say but she knows what he means. “I can’t see your face, no.”

“Then yes, I’m sure.”

He surprises her this time though. He changes it up and instead of holding her hands and them pulling it off together, mostly under his own strength, this time he lowers his hands to his sides and waits.

She stands there frozen, waiting for his hands to return.

“Din? You let go. Did you change your mind? If you did that’s ok, you know that right?”

“No, I didn’t change my mind. I just wanted you to remove it.”

“Umm, are you sure?,” she asks, completely incredulous at his request.

“Please, I want you to. It’s important to me.”

_Damn, he knows she’s can’t say no to that._

“Okaaay…but doesn’t this fall under the category of “your helmet has been removed by others” We’ve been playing a little fast and loose with the rules as it is, but this…. I just… I just have to know this isn’t something you’ll regret.”

_And this is why he loves her. She’s protecting him even when he doesn’t care about protecting himself._

“You’re right, it can’t be removed by others, but you have never been “ _others_ ”. The phrasing doesn’t matter anyway, it’s the meaning behind it. My face can’t be seen. It’s pitch black, we’re safe.”

“I’m sure,” he states again, one more time.

“Please”.

He couldn’t live another day in a world where she couldn’t remove his helmet, where he couldn’t kiss her when either of them wanted. He had lost her today. It didn’t matter that she was standing here now, he had lost her in that horrible moment. He knew he would never regret any action that brought him closer to her. She held her breath as she lifted it up, uncovering him. Her hands were shaking so bad she immediately She handed it to him since she didn’t trust her own grip. He breathed in, as his face felt the cool air of the cabin.

“You going to kiss me?,” she exhaled warm against his lips, both an offer and a challenge. _This was safe, she could do this. They were good at this by now._

He did. He kissed her and everything else ceased to matter.

When they broke apart to breathe, she laughingly said, “I’m starting to think you knocked out the power on purpose….”.

“No,” he laughs, “but that’s a great idea for the future. Thank you for that…I’ll keep it in mind”.

“I’m not entirely convinced,” she argued good-naturedly, as she rubbed her hands down his chest.

“Did you know you talk when you’re nervous?” he threw back at her.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I did know that. You may have mentioned it a time or two, but I’m not nervous this time. You’re here with me, there’s nothing to be scared of.”

She moves one of his hands to her chest to rest against her racing heart.  
This isn’t nervousness,” she says, “this is excitement,” as she raises her hands to his neck and he leans down to kiss her hard.

Everything that matters to him is in this small room. It’s pitch black in here, but he couldn’t possibly see more clearly than right now. Today had opened his eyes. He has to tell her. What he’s going to say he doesn’t know, but he simply can’t leave things unsaid any longer.

“Lie down with me?” she asks, trying to make it sound sexy but she’s uncertain and it bleeds over into her voice.

She’s the strongest woman he’s ever met and she still surprises him with her softness.

They both lie down on the bed fully clothed and shuffle upwards, so their heads are on his single pillow.

“Kiss me again”, she begs, but before he can comply, her mouth is already on his. It’s hot and frantic and he feels doing this in his bed may not be the safest idea after all.

A moan fills the room and she says smiling, ”mmm, you have to be quiet Din, Bean is right there”.

He laughs out loud and replies “that wasn’t me, that was you”, before kissing her shocked, open mouth again.

_Could that have really been her,_ she thinks _. How did that needy sound escape her mouth without realizing it?_

She’s breathing so hard she feels like she’s running a marathon and her heart feels like it’s going to burst out of her chest, but she wants more.

She hooks a leg over his and an arm around his shoulders and pulls him on top of her. His weight on her, pushing her down into his bed is the best things she has ever felt.

It’s his turn to let out a moan as she moves her legs, so he rests against the cradle of her hips. She’s kissing him with so much passion he doesn’t even care if the kid's in the room, he has to have her.

He breaks the kiss to clear his head and calm is racing pulse. _Calm down, think logically._

“I want you,” she says again and she moves one of his hands to the hem of her shirt and helps him to push it up to expose her belly.

_Fuck it. It’s dark, we can be quiet, and the kid will sleep through anything. He has no fight left in him._

He runs his hand up the smooth skin of her flat stomach and she helps him raise her shirt higher until he feels her pull it off over her head. _He really wishes the lights would come back on now._

He kisses down her neck and runs his tongue along her collar bone, before stopping to say, “ I have to tell you….. you were right”.

“About what?” she asks. “You‘ll have to …….. _holy shiiiit_ …….narrow it down a little…… I’m always right”. Her words were interrupted by her gasped curse, as he kissed down the valley between her breasts.

She tried again once she finds her voice again, “I’m losing words here, what was I right about this time?”

“You do have the most gorgeous breasts,” he kept moving down. He moved his head to one side so he could sweep his tongue along the crease underneath the swell his hand rested on, and then up again mouthing and sucking at the fullness he’s been craving ever since she put that damn phrase in his head. It’s all he could think about. _Her damn gorgeous breasts._

He starts to kiss down her belly, and she sits up, ”what about the kid? The kid… he’s _right there_ , I could reach out and touch him if I wanted to”.

“I’d rather you touch me,” he counters with a grin, and she snorts. “You really _are_ on fire today, what has gotten into you?”

“You have. I can’t get enough of you. Not ever”.

Cara finally sighs and says, “you know, we should probably stop before we no longer _can stop_ and traumatize the poor kid”.

“I know, we probably should,” he says as he takes off his shirt and settles back beside her on the bed, wrapping his arms around her.

Cara snickers, “now you’re just being mean. You are making it impossible not to touch you, you know that right?”

“Welcome to my world, baby. I live that reality every time you look at me.”

“I’m going to punch you in the face if you call me baby again”.

“Maybe I’d like it, baby”, did you think of that?

They are both snickering so hard the cot is shaking.

As if by some supernatural force, the kids is climbing up the bed the _very instant_ they settle into a comfortable position, their arms wrapped around each other with every inch of their bodies touching from hip to head. The soft skin of her back and chest feels wonderful against his, and he wonders if he’ll be able to sleep at all pressed up against her like this. Maybe he’ll just stay awake forever.

“See, aren’t you glad we stopped?, Cara asks sleepily and she pulls his arms tighter around her.

He buries his face in her dark hair to muffle his reply of, “not really, but I do see your point”. He can feel her smile in response.

The kid has climbed up to their pillow now and is touching the hair on both of their heads as he finally settles down and starts to softly snore.

He looked around the dark room and saw nothing. Darkness was everywhere, but not the kind he feared or the kind that consumed him at the warehouse: Dark was the color of Cara’s eyes, the huge wide eyes of the kid, the darkness of space they traveled together, the rich color of her shirt, her favorite blaster, even her eyelashes. It was darkness that allowed them to be together, their faces pressed together. He was starting to love the dark. Maybe he would consider blowing a ballast from time to time if it meant this was the result.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Leave me a comment if you like!  
> If you have other ideas of what you'd like to see I'm always open to ideas.  
> I have 2 more stories planned and then my brain is empty.  
> thanks!


End file.
